Matt yammers on about cartoonist MILTON CANIFF and lesser topics for the edification of millions.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

RINGO STARR NEWS ROUNDUP

THE Liverpool homes of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and even Pete Best are preserved and protected landmarks. Ringo Starr's birthplace, No.9 Madryn Street, is set for demolition along with other homes in the neighborhood. The street was menitoned in Ringo's recent biographical song, "Liverpool 8", from the album of the same name.

RINGO recently lamented the poor sales of said alsum, which peaked at #94 on Billboard. What he should be saying is, 'Wow, my highest charting album in 10 years!' or 'Hey, of my 15 studio albums, only seven did better on the charts' or 'Well, at least it got me on Rachael Ray.'

SIR George Margin, producer for almost all of the Beatles' recordings, was honored by the Grammy Foundation at a benefit on July 12th. In attendance were Beatle widows Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison. Missing out were ingrates Starr and Beatles' bassist Paul McCartney. In performance were Jeff Beck, Tom Jones and Burt Bacharach (man, I wish those dudes would start a band).

RINGO also asked the world to celebrate his 68th birthday (July 7th) by embracing universal peace and love. Starr was criticized for trying to co-opt the legacy of bandmate John Lennon. Critics were further incensed when Ringo said he's "bigger than Jesus." Part of his birthday celebration was subjecting himself to the inanity of Larry King. A transcript of the interview can be found here.

While I've whetted your appetite for Ringo interviews, how about Starr and new wife Barbara Bach on "Donahue" from 1981!